


A Vibrant World

by SuperRandom1217



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Alternate Universe, Best Friends, Blind Character, Blindness, Childhood Friends, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Getting to Know Each Other, Injury, Injury Recovery, Minor Injuries, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Splatoon (Manga), The & tag is for friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-09-27 02:23:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20400115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperRandom1217/pseuds/SuperRandom1217
Summary: “...If they make Goggles cry again…” Rider’s gruff voice became quiet and dangerous.“...I’ll kill them.”When he looked back up, his brows were deeply furrowed, his eyes gleaming with a fatal-looking glower. A deadly silence hung in the air, so lethal that not even Army dared to interrupt.----------The vibrant city of Inkopolis doesn’t need to only be seen by eyes, it can also be seen through imagination too.(An AU where Goggles is Blind)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> (I'm really supposed to continue to write the other story but damn my mind cuz it likes to think of new ideas.)
> 
> Hi! This idea popped up in my head literally yesterday and I decided to write about it! And this prologue will NOT explain anything for the incoming chapters so do note that and yes, I am very VERY aware of what I'm doing here, so if the location is off? It's done on purpose. And Chapter 2 should be out soon, so please wait for that!
> 
> Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy reading this!

The roads are filled with vehicles of different sizes, some junctions blocked while some are moving along smoothly. Creatures of every kind walked among each other peacefully, some exchanging light-hearted banter while some walked onward to their destination. The city was noisy and vibrant, from just businessman walking busily along the pavements and office workers typing away on their computers to young cephalopod teens matched against each other in different locations of the city; Inkopolis was once again bustling with life.

A group of blue-haired teenagers talked amongst themselves in Inkopolis Square, the current heart of the city of all lively action. 

“I wonder where he is right now…” A girl with headphones questioned.

“Where is he?! And how does he even wake up late every day?!” A boy questioned and adjusted his glasses.

“Maybe he got into an accident!” Another girl but with a knitted bobble hat happily said.

“THAT’S NOT SOMETHING TO JOKE ABOUT!” The other two retorted.

“...Heyyyyyy guys, I’m here!” A new voice shouted in the distance.

The three blue-haired teens all turned to the direction of the booming voice. Quickly realising who it was, they all smiled back at the new inkling joining into their conversation.

A boy clad in a yellow and black mountain coat, wearing his signature Goggles, grinned sheepishly at the group, “Sorry, I couldn’t hear my alarm again! My grandma ended up being the one to wake me up!” The boy in glasses quickly frowned at his comment, “Goggles, you know you really shouldn’t rely on your grandma all the time to wake you up!”

“Sorry! But I just can’t hear my alarm sometimes…” Goggles scratched the back of his head.

Headphones placed her hand on Glasses’ shoulder, gesturing to stop scolding Goggles, which he complied to. “Anyways, looks like it’s gonna be another fun day at turfing!” She quickly added.

At the mention of turf wars, Goggles immediately bounced back from his embarrassing moment, jumping up and down and his eyes literally shimmering in excitement. “Can we go now?! I want to play and have fun!” Bobble cheered in agreement at the back.

The other two looked at the two happy-go-lucky members, seemingly eager to have another fun day in turf wars, a soft smile slowly bloomed on their face, their soft spot for the two becoming apparent, then suddenly snapping back to reality, Glasses adjusts his spectacles, “Hm, alright, but we better do our best and have fun!”

  
Goggles and Bobble immediately cheer like children, jumping up and down, then suddenly skipped merrily towards the Deca Tower, where all turf war match registrations happened, Headphone and Glasses running speedily to catch up with them and hoping to avoid accidents caused by the two’s antics. Attempting to slip through the unusual crowd that formed in front of Deca Tower, once they reached into the clearing, they soon realised they were too late.

Goggles was seen pulling down a yellow-green inkling’s pants, and Bobble stood there, laughing at the commotion, not helping at all, in other words; Goggles was up to his antics again, and the man he pantsed does not seem happy at all.

Glasses and Headphones pushed through the crowd and stood in front of the yellow-green inkling, bowing fervently at him. 

“We’re super sorry about our friend pulling your pants down! He doesn’t mean it!” The two said in sync as the other inkling still looked unimpressed. Glasses quickly dragged Goggles over and pushed his head down in a bowing position, while Bobble continues to make remarks about the situation on the side.

“GOGGLES! APOLOGISE!”

“But I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“YES YOU DID!”

While their argument continues, unbeknownst to them, a shadow loomed above them, in the shape of a dynamo roller.

“I’ll crush you…”

“Huh?” The three looked up, their faces immediately paled in horror.

The yellow-green inkling now towered over their seemingly tiny figures. A gold dynamo roller held above their heads, threatening to squish them, the inkling’s face absolutely furious, Glasses then realise who Goggles pantsed.

“You’re… !” Glasses felt a part of his soul leaving his body.

“You’re Rider from the S ranks!” Headphones said, finishing the sentence for him.

Rider stood still for a moment, his face paused. Then, the tan-skinned yellow-green inkling softened a bit, looking slightly less furious, and lifted his dynamo roller away from them. 

“...Hmph, at least you all aren’t absolutely stupid.” Turning around and putting his gold dynamo roller into his case, he paused in the middle of the action, “...Arowana Mall, meet me there.” Then he turned around, his face completely shrouded in fury, “I’ll crush you and your team right there.” And promptly entered the tower.

Glasses and Headphones stand in shock while the crowd disperse, worried whispers about the incoming battle. 

“W-what do we do…?”

  
  
“I- uh- I don’t know!” The two muttered among themselves.

“We do our best and fight him of course!” A new voice cuts through, Headphones and Glasses turn around.

Goggles as always, beamed at them, “As long as we have fun, everything’s gonna be ok!” and raises his left hand up, his thumb sticking out.

“I… I guess we’re gonna be ok.” Glasses said half-heartedly.

“No, we’re gonna be ok Glasses!” Headphones said more confidently.

“All that matters is that we have fun~!” Bobble added.

“Yeah, no matter what, we’re always gonna be a team and have fun!” Goggles chimed in at last.

“Yeah! Let’s do it!”

The blue team now full of energy and confidence, rushes into the tower, ready to face against the monster of an inkling that awaits them in Arowana Mall.


	2. Missing You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rider visits a certain blue boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I said quick, I literally meant by posting on the same day. 
> 
> Anyways, a short chapter, things will be explained more clearly next chapter.

It was already dusk by the time the match ended. Rider packed his belongings from the temporary locker slowly, extremely worn out by the opposing team’s enthusiasm and energy. His teammates had already headed home, so no one was waiting for him, at least not here. Picking up the beloved gold dynamo that he treasured since the first day he used it, he walked to the train station.

He trudged along the pavement of Inkopolis square, the music from the LED monitor commercials that was plastered all over the square felt as if they were all shouting at his face at the same time and a headache grows. ‘Just have to wait for a bit more…’ he thought and stared up at the skies; the orange, pink and purple hues slowly faded across the skies as more dark blue threatened to swallow up the colours of the sky, while the buildings started lighting up, twinkling like the stars that faded into the background of the skies, day or night, Inkopolis is a city bursting with life; sure, Rider may not like the over liveliness everywhere he turns, but over time, it grew on him.

Entering the train station, he swiped his metro card, which prompted a ‘beep’ from the machine and opened the gate for him, and walked to the supposed train line he will take.

Now waiting on the platform, he looked around the city again. The lights of the buildings becoming brighter and brighter as the skies became darker and darker, voices of the city somehow becoming even noisier despite night approaching, it felt as if the spirit of the city only started to wake up. Inkopolis truly was an astounding city.

‘If only he could see all this…’ At the mention of that, he stared out to a certain building in the distance; a large, pristine, somewhat tall modern-looking building, a place where he likes to call as home sometimes, despite its stale environment. ‘I wonder how’s he doing today.’ Rider mindlessly wondered.

Yes, Rider was a quiet and ill-tempered boy, but even he has people he cares about. Through these fleeting days of the never-ending Summer, it has been rather boring and monotonous to him; continuous practice and playing regular and ranked mode, aside from that, he’s barely done anything else. The only thing he could look forward to these days aside from going up a rank is to visit ‘him’.

“...The train will arrive shortly, please stand behind the yellow line.”

Rider snapped from his thoughts as the train zooms past him and quickly slowed down, walking to the front of the yellow line, he waited for a second as the train stopped and opened its doors. 

‘I’ll be there soon.’ He steps into the train.

\----------

Finally reaching the building, he stood still for a moment and marvelled at its look again. There were thousands of glass panes all around the building, while the sides of the building give more privacy to its ‘tenants’ as there were gaps of concrete painted in white, the bottom of the building was painted in black with its entrance mostly seen through with the number of glass panes was placed there while the roof of the building was slanted to give it the building a modern look. It may be a hospital, but with its modern architectural design, it would’ve been mistaken as an art centre if it wasn’t for the obvious hospital sign on the top of the building and entrance sign. Realising visiting hours may soon be over, he scurried into the reception.

Rider steps into the reception, the now dim lights around the hospital reception creating a soothing mood to visitors around, Rider soon found himself walking slower to the desk. 

A shadow looming over a nurse while typing away on her computer, the nurse quickly looks up to see the yellow-green inkling towering over her, yet the nurse smiles warmly at him.

“Oh hey, Rider! Came to see-”

“Yeah, came to see him.” The woman’s eyes soften at the mention of the boy.

“How nice of you to come and visit him almost every day! He’s so blessed to have such a lovely friend as you.” The yellow-green inkling’s faced flushed at the lady’s compliment and frowns, “I-It’s nothing. I’m just there to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.” He stuttered.

“Okay, okay, I won’t tease you anymore. Just sign your name here and you’re good.” The nurse then hands him a clipboard and Rider quickly writes his name on it and hands back the clipboard and rushes towards the lifts.

The nurse looks at the boy as the lift closes, smiling sadly.

“Only if that boy was never born to be blind.”

\----------

Walking as speedily as possible towards the ward, Rider started wondering what he should talk about today, stories about some recent games he played? Places around the city? Or- 

“Get em’, Rider!” A muffled voice echoed in the corridor.

Immediately recognising the owner of the voice, Rider stopped in his tracks and processed what he just heard.

‘Get em’ Rider’, was it? He felt a smile creeping into his face. 

He then decided to walk slowly towards the entrance of the ward, hoping to surprise his bedridden friend, he gently opened the door.

A bit of light shone directly into Rider’s eyes when he opened the door, making him flinch and take a step back, which was loud enough to distract the only patient in the room from playing with his dolls.

“Who’s there? Rider?” The boy said with a hopeful voice.

Knowing his surprise has now been ruined, Rider gave up and smiled gently.

“Yeah, it’s me…”

“...Goggles.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada! This AU is...
> 
> Goggles is blind!!!!
> 
> Fluff and angst ensued.


	3. Imagination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rider talks with Goggles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyyyyyy I already got 4 kudos and some hits?! This is quite the achievement for me alreadyyyyy ( T A T )
> 
> Anyways, just some light-hearted stuff for this chapter, hope you guys like it!

“Who’s there? Rider?” The boy said with a hopeful voice.

Knowing his surprise has now been ruined, Rider gave up and smiled gently.

“Yeah, it’s me, Goggles.”

The boy, Goggles, paused for a moment, then quickly bounced up and down on his bed, his loose hair flapping around his face. “Rider, It’s you! I’ve been waiting for you for the whole day!” Goggles then attempted to crawl out of his bed, almost falling off in the process, but Rider immediately rushes over to him and held his shoulders, halting him from attempting to greet him. “Goggles, you’ve gotta stop trying to get out of your bed just to greet me.” Rider pointed out.

“But… it’s only fair to greet you!” The blue-haired boy disagreed.

“...Hmph, same as ever huh? And I mean that by yesterday, and the day before, and probably every day I come to visit you.” Goggles pout at him, sticking his tongue out in rebellion, Rider smirked at his reaction.

“Anyways, settle down. I know it’s been boring without me, but you’ve gotta listen to the doctors and nurses and don’t move from your bed unless you need to go to the toilet, don’t want anything to happen to you now.” Goggles looked as dejected as a depressed puppy at the mention of that, he looked down at the ground and frowned miserably. Rider felt a pang of guilt at that.

“C’mon... Don’t you want to get better? Once you’re treated, you can finally play turf wars with me, Glasses, Headphones and Bobble.” The blue-haired eyes immediately lit up, shimmering with hope and excitement. “Yeah! I wanna play turf wars properly! I want to see what the world looks like and, and, I wanna see how you guys look like now!” Rider smiled sadly at the mention of their faces, he remembered Goggles wasn’t completely blind back then, and still managed to recognise others faces, but it’s all up to recognising voices now, which Goggles isn’t very good at except for familiar faces. 

Looking out at the window beside Goggles’ bed, it was almost completely dark now, the lights have already been turned on for Goggles’ bed, which Rider turned to look at and saw some dolls strewn around the bed, he noticed there were some old and new ones mixed together. 

“...I see your mom made some new dolls for you.” The blind boy’s face went blank for a moment, then instantly beamed at him. “Yeah, she keeps sewing new ones for me so I get to play as more characters!” Goggles eyes look down at the dolls and picked up one that was meant to resemble Emperor, the monarch of turf wars. It was still amazing how Goggles can move his eyes around as if he wasn’t blind at all, people would have mistaken him for a normal inkling for that, Rider noted, but smiled when Goggles brought up about his parents. The yellow-green inkling felt grateful for how much hard work his friend’s parents have put in this treatment, no loving parents would want their child to suffer from an unusual childhood and potentially an unhappy life after all.

“I like all these dolls but,” Goggles paused, and quickly searched around the dolls, using his hands to have a feel around the dolls’ faces, after searching for a bit, he picked a tan-skinned doll with yellow-green tentacles with a topknot hairstyle, and raised it towards Rider’s general direction. “I like the ‘Rider’ doll the best!” The yellow-green haired boy immediately felt a fluttering feeling in his chest and an uncontrollable smile blooming on his face. Thank cod Goggles can’t see him right now, or else he’ll be teased for the rest of his life.

“...Thanks.” Rider quietly mumbled.

“Hmm?” 

“I said that’s neat.” 

“Yeah! It feels just like your face, Rider!” The yellow-green inkling felt his smile widening even more.

“That’s because it IS my face, you idiot.”

“Heheh, yeah…” Goggles commented, his brows suddenly furrowed, and adapted into an overdramatic thinking position, after a moment, his eyes suddenly open and looked at Rider’s direction with an excited expression.

“Rider, Rider! Have I told you what I imagined after you left yesterday?!”

“...You don’t have a phone nor can you contact me unless I’m visiting you, so no.”

“Ok, lemme tell you! And sit down!” Rider immediately complied to it and sat on the chair beside the bed, the chair creaked slightly, signalling Goggles that Rider has sat down. 

Goggles quickly sat up straight and changed to a cross-legged sitting position and placed his arms on his legs, a wide smile on his face. 

“So yesterday, I tried to imagine Inkopolis Square a bit more, so like, blurring music everywhere, LED monitors showing commercials plastered all around and there were lotsa cool shops surrounding the square!” Rider made a quiet noise to signal Goggles to continue. 

“And then I thought about the team that me, Glasses, Headphones and Bobble would be like! Headphones and Glasses would be wondering why I’m late and Bobble would be saying something scary and then they’ll do their straightman retort!” Goggles giggled at that and Rider snorted at the thought of it, a very likely possibility if Goggles wasn’t born to be blind.

“I would be late like I did when I go to school and Glasses and Headphones would scold at me, I’d be apologising about how my alarm just isn’t loud enough for me and relied on my grandma to wake me up like she used to!” Ah, Goggles’ grandmother. Thankfully she is still relatively young for an elderly, meaning that she can still walk around without any problems, and visit Goggles along with his parents once a week.

“Headphones would be the big sister and try to lift the mood up and says we should go and play some turf wars! And then me and Bobble would run to the tower building thingy and Glasses and Headphones would try to catch up with us and then… and then…!” Goggles paused, waiting for Rider’s response.

“...Then what?”

“I thought about what if we met somewhere else and I thought when I see you, I’d pull down your pants!” Rider sighed. 

“What’s with you always wanting to pull down me and other people’s pants?”

“It’s called pantsing now!” Goggles grinned.

“...Fine, what’s with you always wanting to pants me and other people?”

At that, Goggles paused, putting his hand on his chin, contemplating his answer, then quickly beamed back at him, “Hmmm, I dunno! I just think it’s fun!”

“It’s not funny for others…”

“...Annnnnyyyyywayyys, Headphones and Glasses will be super horrified and they’ll make me apologise to you with them and Bobble will be laughing at the side! Then you’ll say ‘I’ll crush you’ while you threaten us with your dynamo roller!” Goggles laughed at the thought of that, while Rider felt a drip of sweat streaming down his head. 

“And then Headphones and Glasses would realise you’re the famous Rider and you’d challenge us to a match in Arowana Mall!” Rider smirked at that, now imagining the scenario that would happen, he liked the sound of that.

“...And then we headed into the turf match, and I pantsed you, then we won the match!” 

“...Of course.” Rider facepalmed. Of course, most of Goggles’ fantasies involved him defeating the opposing team in the strangest ways.

The conversation went on about different things afterwards, from Goggles asking about how certain objects looked like and trying to imagine it, to him asking about how the world was like now (but of course, he asked about it every day so Rider gives him about the same answer every time). Goggles, needless to say, was a curious child.

It was completely dark already when Rider was trying to describe to Goggles another object, a yawn escaped from Goggles’ mouth, the blue-haired boy immediately covered his mouth, attempting to play it off as something else but failing miserably.

“...If you’re tired, just sleep. I’ll be visiting you tomorrow anyway.” Rider stood up, “See ya tomorrow.” and turned around, walking a few steps when a hand gripped onto his arm. The yellow-green inkling immediately freezes from the touch.

“W-wait…” The blind boy mumbled, his tight grip shaking slightly.

Rider slowly turned around, and much to his horror, Goggles was dangling from his bed, barely managing to balance and hold onto Rider. 

Rider carefully stepped back slowly and held onto Goggles’ lean frame, pushing him back up to his bed. After managing to put Goggles back onto his usual sitting position on the bed, Rider held the blind boy’s hand softly.

“Goggles, please don’t do that ever again. We can’t afford to get you hurt now.” Rider said softly. Goggles looked downward sorrowfully.

“...I don’t want you to leave, Rider.” Rider felt his heart hurt at the mention of the boy’s loneliness. Rider squeezed his hand.

“I can’t, visiting hours are almost over, it’s either getting dragged out of the hospital or leave quietly.” Goggles somehow looked even more dejected than possible. The yellow-green inkling stayed quiet, pondering about what to do, then an idea reached him.

“How about this? I tell you stories about my turf war matches today and you can have more good dreams about it?” The blue-haired boy’s face immediately lit up, and went back to his usual smile, “Yay! I get to listen to more of Rider’s awesome matches!” Rider smiled softly at that and thanked the cods again that Goggles can’t see his face for now.

Rider sat back down on the creaky chair, continuing to hold Goggles’ hand while Goggles nestled himself between the fluffy pillows his parents had bought for him, his eyes shimmering with excitement.

“...So I played against Army today.” Goggles eyes shimmered even more if that was possible. 

“And Army being Army, used his manual against us again, we were set in starfish mainstage, so we first started off going together as a group, just inking most things around our path but then, Army and his team came out of nowhere and… BAM! They splatted all of us.” Rider added sound effects to allow Goggles to let his imagination flow, which he slightly cringed at the tone he used. Goggles closed his eyes and began to relax, listening to the story while trying to imagine it in his head.

“Army once again predicted our movements by using his ridiculously detailed notebook and mocked us for not strategising enough. After Bamboo, Uniform, Stealth and I respawned back, Stealth thought of an idea that may throw Army and his team off and told me about it and-”

Snoooooooork…

Rider sighed in relief and turned to his right to see Goggles has already fallen asleep, even though he may be very hyperactive, he dies out like a battery when he became sleepy. The boy smiled at that. 

Looking down at Goggles’ hand, he lifted the boy’s hand slightly higher, and lowered his head towards the hand and planted a kiss on it.

“...Sweet dreams.”

Slowly releasing the boy’s hand, the yellow-green inkling stood up slowly, not allowing the chair to creak and alert Goggles, and walked away quietly, closing the door gently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to make sure to tell you guys that Goggles and Rider are just really, really close friends, not gonna ever develop into lovers or anything since I feel like this would ruin the story, sorry Goggles x Rider fans! *runs away*


	4. Life Without Predictions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The blind boy and the soldier meets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imagine being an organised writer, having every idea and concept written down, then throw that all out of the window; that's me! Anyways hey! This chapter took me much longer than I thought I'd actually write so uhhh, might have a few grammar mistakes here and there.
> 
> Once again, thank you for even reading this, heck, thanks for even reading up to this chapter!

It was another regular day in the hospital, Rider was once again visiting Goggles, this time in the early afternoon to make sure Goggles doesn’t get too restless.

The yellow-green inkling was having a casual conversation with the blue-haired inkling but soon found himself somehow roleplaying as various famous people in the turf war scene with the dolls Goggles’ mother made. Using the patches of knowledge Rider told him about the top turfers’ throughout the tan-skinned boy’s story-telling, Goggles attempted to replicate the personalities and strategies each top turfers used for their role-playing. Shockingly, Goggles was able to copy every one of them well enough to the point of being able to pretend to be them if he wanted to, needless to say, Rider was astonished by the amount of knowledge Goggles remembered throughout his stories. 

“...You cannot defeat us, you inferior inklings! As long as we have the manual, nothing can stop us!” Goggles said with a posh accent, holding a doll with orange hair, clad in a brown beret, a military green fish-tail parka jacket, and some cherry coloured boots, Rider felt the side of his mouth sneaking upwards, right now, they’re role-playing as Army and Rider himself from the story he told the other day.

“Hmph, don’t get too cocky now, rich kid.” Rider said, holding his doll and faced it towards the orange-haired doll, in which Goggles made an annoyed look and ‘tsk’ed at him.

“Hm, we’ll see about that, underdog!” Goggles then shoved his doll forward at the same time as Rider.

“Hyaaaaaaa-!”

“Goggles, Rider, are you two there?”

The two of them immediately paused, Rider’s face blanched in horror and quickly placed the doll version of him onto Goggles’ bed and withdrew his hands back onto his lap.

“Y-yeah, we’re in.” Rider stuttered, failing to mask the nervousness in his voice.

The sound of a door creaked open and a nurse walks in, smiling gently at Goggles and Rider. “Looks like you two had another play session huh?” She noted. Rider’s face flushed in a lovely shade of pink while Goggles beamed back at her. 

“Yeah, we were playing with my ‘Army’ and ‘Rider’ doll!” If the yellow-green inkling wasn’t too embarrassed at the first mention of the dolls, he definitely would be now.

“Awww, how sweet of you, Rider!” The lady grinned at them, “Anyways, Goggles, we’ve got some good news for you! (At least for Goggles…)” Rider overheard the mumbled part of the sentence, while Goggles’ eyes glistened with hope and anticipation. Rider swore Goggles’ eyes were made of diamonds sometimes.

The nurse smiled at Goggles reaction, then went back out for a moment, creaking sound of some wheels approaching their room and Goggles gasped in surprise. This could only mean one thing; a new patient is going to be placed in the same room as him.

“Goggles, meet one of your idols, Army!” The nurse introduced, in which, Goggles immediately screamed in a fanboy fashion, Rider, however, blanched instead.

“Shush, fanboy! I’m trying to rest my already injured body, so quiet down!” A posh-accented voice said and the nurse pushed the patient into the room, finally revealing his face. 

The posh-accented boy, Army, was wrapped in layers of bandages like a mummy, aside from the hospital gown, the only other thing that wasn’t covered in gauze was his head, the boy wore a brown beret on his head, face paint still smudged on his cheeks and serious-looking eyes with a constant frown on his face, looking exactly like the Army doll replica Goggles possessed, Rider can confirm; this is the real Army, and he doesn’t like it. Rider scowled at him, which Army quickly took notice.

“...Oh? It seems that we’ve got a familiar face here.” Army mocked, the yellow-green inkling glared back at him. “I’m visiting a friend, what about it?” Army in return smirked at him, “I never thought you’d be friends with anyone other than your teammates, that’s all.”

“Hurt my friend in any way and I’ll make your injuries hurt even more.” Rider retorted, Army glared back at him in return, which satisfied Rider. The tension in the room rises, but Goggles was starstruck, making him blissfully unaware of the rigid feeling of the room.

“...Um, anyways, Goggles?” At the call of his name, Goggles immediately snapped from his starstruck and moved his head at the nurse’s direction, “Yeah?” he replied.

“Dr Mako would like to run a few tests to see how we can treat your eyes, are you ready?” Rider’s face immediately blanched.

Goggles’ face paused for a moment, then quickly smiled back at the nurse, “I’ll do anything to restore my eyesight and play turf wars, yeah!” Rider felt sick.

The nurse first moved Army to his designated bed first, “Another nurse will be here to put you on the bed later, Mr Army.” Army gave a curt nod in response. The nurse then walked over to Goggles’ bedside, grabbing a folded wheelchair that was tucked beside his bed, she unfolded it. Next, she gently held Goggles’ left arm to make sure he knew which side he was getting off, Goggles squeezed the nurse’s arm in return and moved his legs towards the left side of the bed. Upon getting off the bed, the nurse quickly holds his other arm to make sure he doesn’t fall as she leads him to the wheelchair. As all this unfolded, Rider stayed quiet, feeling his heart rate accelerate followed by a rising ill feeling in his stomach.

The nurse gazed back “Rider, for now could you please take care of Mr Army for me? Goggles and I will see you two again soon!”. The nurse turned the wheelchair around, ready to push Goggles out of the room. 

As she began to push, a tight grip held her back, “W-wait!” The nurse flinched, she turned to see a desperate-looking Rider holding onto her shoulder.

“Rider… I know you’re worried about Goggles, we all do. No one knows what happens behind those doors but… this is for the best.” The yellow-green inkling felt his heart drop again for the millionth time in his life, lowering his head into the shadows as his hold on the lady’s shoulder tightens into a death grip.

“...If they make Goggles cry again…” Rider’s gruff voice became quiet and dangerous.

  
  
  


“... **I’ll kill them** .” 

  
  
  


When he looked back up, his brows were deeply furrowed, his eyes gleaming with a fatal-looking glower. A deadly silence hung in the air, so lethal that not even Army dared to interrupt. In comparison, the nurse didn’t even pale in fear at this sight. Rider’s anxiety for Goggles’ safety was clockwork at this point.

“...Rider.” The yellow-green inkling snapped his head towards Goggles’ direction.

“...Please don’t worry about me, I’m not a baby. I’m fine now and will always be!” Goggles beamed at him, albeit, in the wrong direction.

The tan-skinned boy eyes slowly turned downcast, his death grip loosening, releasing the nurse from his grasp, leaving the lady’s uniform crumpled on her left shoulder and sighed.

“...If you say so.” He lamented with a sorrowful tone.

Rider gazes at Army “...I’ll try to watch over him if you’d like. No guarantees though.”. The nurse gives a warm smile at Rider “Well if you don’t mind, we’ll need to leave now.” The yellow-green inkling visibly tensed made no move.

“Bye, Rider! Talk to you soon Mr Army!” Goggles turned around, again on the wrong side, and waved at them. Army grunts in response, Rider dashes in front of Goggles, he holds his left hand, pecking it gently.

“Good luck, here’s hoping today’s the day they find a cure.” Rider whispered. Goggles’ face paused for a moment, then a grin beamed on his face, his cheeks blossoming in a nice flush of pink.

“I hope so too! And I know they WILL find it someday!” The yellow-green inkling smiled softly at him. The nurse then pushed the blind boy on the wheelchair away.

Rider stood in silence for a few minutes, as quiet as a super sea snail, his face incomprehensible, but from the clenched fists, anyone can tell he was tense.

“...Ahem.” A voice broke through.

Snapping from his unreadable thoughts, Rider turned to the direction of the owner’s voice, Army.

“...Mind telling me your story about you and that boy?”

  
  


\----------

  
  


“...I see. So that’s how you two met.” Rider nodded, Army now placed on his bed, pondered for a moment then fired a question, “So he used to be able to see beforehand but his illness slowly took his eyesight away?” Rider nods again.

“Hmm… I suppose I can see why you reacted that way an hour ago.” The orange inkling said, now attempting to nestle himself into the less-than-luxurious hospital bed, but winced at the pain of his injuries. After a few more attempts, Army huffs out of frustration, which Rider smirked at. “...Anyways, I think I know your problem now.” The yellow-green inkling felt a very familiar sensation welling in his stomach, he really hoped Army’s assumptions were wrong.

“...But for the sake of saving myself from a punch in the face, I won’t say it.” Rider somehow felt a heavy feeling lifted from his chest.

“...Thanks, for the first and last time.” Army huffed in annoyance at his response. A comfortable silence falls between them, which is an achievement, as Army would’ve started serious discussions about anything, Rider felt annoyed just remembering talking to Army in the past. Unfortunately, it didn’t last until Goggles’ return.

“Say, Rider.” The yellow-green boy sighed, he wished the silence lasted longer.

“Why’s he so important to you?”

The moment those words left his lips, he saw Rider flinch, his hands balled up into knuckle white fists, his slight gratefulness for the soldier sizzled out in an instant, Army soon found himself pinned against the wall.

“Listen up you rich kid.” The orange inkling gulped.

“How’d you feel when you have no one left in the world? How’d you feel when no one cares about you? How’d you feel when your real family basically abandons you huh? But I guess that doesn’t matter since you’ve got a fuckin’ household to look after you.” 

“C-calm down you wild animal…” The orange inkling stuttered, which prompted a more intense glower from Rider.

“So I’m a wild animal now huh? I may be a wild animal to you, but I’m probably more fuckin’ caring than you ever would.” Rider paused, taking a deep breath and sighed audibly, he continued, “Goggles is important to me, I care about him. I care about Goggles because he’s the only ‘family’ I have left.” Everything clicked in Army’s head.

The soldier collected his wits, took a deep breath and sighed. “Rider, if you can calm down, maybe we can actually have a talk for once.” Rider narrowed his eyes at Army, sceptical of his idea at first, after a minute of a staring contest, the yellow-green inkling finally gave in and sat on the chair conveniently placed next to Army’s bed, “Fine, but don’t make me regret this.”

The orange inkling smirked at Rider’s somewhat cooperativeness and nestled back into his bed (as much as he could anyway), “Look, I’m sorry about your past and Goggles’ story but, I can relate in some ways.” The yellow-green inkling’s eyes widen slightly, now somewhat intrigued about what Army has to say, he leans slightly forward.

“As much as common inklings think the ones who live in households lead a happy life, it really isn’t.” Army paused, taking in another deep breath, and continued, “It may be a different case from yours but, my parents never had time for me, so were my siblings, and so I strived to be noticed. I know they all love me, but just didn’t have the time for me, so I decided to instead devote my time into becoming someone they can be proud of. What was your case?” Rider looked down, a shadow cast over his face.

“...I don’t want to talk about it,” He stood up, his face still unable to be seen, “I think you’ve heard enough from me anyways.” He walked towards the door, Army stayed quiet, “...I’m heading out to get some food for Goggles, you need anything?” Rider asked, now standing in front of the door, Army shook his head. “Alright, don’t regret saying no.” The yellow inkling stood quietly in front of the door for a minute, “But,” Rider paused, now turning the doorknob and opening the door, “...Thanks for sharing your story.” He turned his head around, his expression was miserable, but a hint of gratefulness was written on his face, and promptly closed the door.

Army continued to stare at the door, processing Rider’s comments and expressions in his head, as he was now concerned, to say the least.

  
  


\----------

  
  


“I wonder what food Rider’s gonna bring back today!” Goggles said in an excited manner. He heard the nurse exhaled forcefully and the movement of the wheelchair shaking slightly, automatically assuming that the lady was smiling at him.

“I’m sure it’s gonna be some more good food, I’m jealous Goggles!” Goggles turned around and beamed at her, “I can share some with you, whenever you come back!” Goggles suddenly felt the wheelchair shaking even more and the direction of wheelchair changed a bit, which the confusion was cleared when he felt a hand gently petting his head; the nurse was pushing the wheelchair one-handed while she pets his head.

“You’re such a good boy, I wish everyone in the world was as good as you.” Goggles purred slightly at the warm touch and beamed even brighter, if that was possible. “Everyone can be if we all learn to help and be happy together, San!” The blind boy felt the wheelchair suddenly stopped moving. 

“...Who are you talking to?” The nurse questioned.

Goggles paused for a second, confused at the question, but it quickly clicked in his head and answered. “Oh yeah! I just gave you a nickname, San! Since you’re the third nurse who’s taking care of me for the treatment!”

The nurse went quiet for a moment, then, the blue-haired boy suddenly felt a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders.

“Call me whatever you want, everyone will always be here for you,” San said softly. A smile blooming on both inkling’s faces. 

“ I’ll call you San from now on then!” The blue one grinned. San stood back up and petted his head in fondness then continued to push him on the wheelchair, with Goggles bouncing up and down in excitement while San looked at him fondly.

‘Only if he wasn’t born to be blind…’

\----------

Army looked at the window next to Goggles bed, pondering about everything that he discussed with Rider before his speedy leave, but all thoughts left him the moment the entrance door to the ward swings open, two people now standing in front of the doorway.

“Well, we’re back!” The nurse said, followed by the blind boy cheering.

The soldier stays quiet for a few seconds but then decided to greet the two, “...Welcome back, Rider went to go get some food so he’ll be back soon.” The orange inkling said, his voice somehow not filled with sarcasm, mockery or malice, but with a bit of warmth.

The blue-haired boy’s eyes widen, his lips forming into the shape of an ‘O’ and turned to the general direction of his voice, his eyes now shimmering with hope and respect, and grinned at Army.

“Whoa! THE Army actually greeted me! And I thought Mr Army was just cold and rude from Rider’s stories!” Army’s little amount of respect for Rider vaporised immediately.

“...Hmph, is that what he said?” Army asked as he watched Goggles being helped back onto his bed. After a brief struggle with climbing back on, Goggles settled himself back into his bed, nestling himself into the dull bedsheets and smiled at him.

“Yeah! He says even though you’re a rude guy in general, he sees that you do some stuff with good intentions, so he doesn’t really mind you all that much! Oh and, you’re stronger than him right??” Goggles asked, now brimming with curiosity. Army felt his respect for Rider immediately restored, feeling a small smile tugging at his lips.

“Of course I’m strong, I’m part of the S4 after all!” The soldier proudly exclaimed, Goggles’ eyes glimmered with even more excitement and became starstruck once again.

The two then somehow managed to keep up a light-hearted chatter, with how cheeky Goggles and serious Army is, most people would call this a miracle. Army kept talking about the strategies he wrote in his manual, while Goggles would keep being amazed by how in-depth Army’s ideas and tactics were (admittedly, he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about and couldn’t exactly visualise his complex strategies) and would keep firing one question after another. It was until around sunset that Army ultimately decided to break the babbling and ask a serious question.

“Hey, Goggles.” The blind boy immediately sits up and turns to his direction, “Yeah?”

“What do you think of Rider? What does he mean to you? Be honest.” Army said solemnly.

Goggles became quiet, the soldier took a peek at the blue-haired boy and saw him sat up, staring at his hands, even though he couldn’t see, the orange inkling quickly became worried that he touched upon a sore subject and replied, “Uhh, it’s alright if you don’t want to ans-”

“Rider is someone important to me.” The blind boy said, cutting through Army’s sentence. 

“He’s such a cool guy and nice to me, even though he doesn’t show it, he’s been there to help me since when I was a kid even back when I could still see a bit, he’s like my walking stick.” Goggles paused, Army stayed quiet to let the boy continue.

“He saved my life once when I was younger, and now, look at him! He’s still here, around me and teaching me things I never had an experience with, I don’t know how I could ever repay him, to be honest.” The blue-haired boy’s eyes looked downcast, a sad smile spreading on his face. “The only way I could really repay him for now is to make sure I’m happy I guess, but somedays when he’s not there, I can’t help but feel a bit miserable,” Goggles snapped his head towards Army’s direction, “But don’t tell him that though.”

“Your secret is in safe hands.” The orange inkling said sincerely, Goggles nodded with gratitude.

Silence quickly filled the air, Army sensing a depressed mood coming from the blind boy, he panicked and changed to a random topic.

“Uh, what was your life like before you became completely blind?”

Goggles was once again quiet, making the soldier panic even more, an anxious feeling welling up in him. “U-umm, you don’t have to say it if you don’t want to, I actually have no idea what to say in this situation, andifyouwanttoswitchrooms-”

“I’m fine, Mr Army.” The orange inkling stopped blathering.

“I was just trying to remember what it was like when I could still see, it’s just a bit hard to visualise them again, that’s all.” Army stayed quiet.

“I guess… I guess I was a normal kid, just going to kindergarten and meeting my besties there; Glasses, Headphones and Bobble, but I guess it’s not so normal after a while ‘cause I couldn’t see things normally as any kid would, they made fun of me since I started having eyesight problems, but I don’t hate them for it though.” The boy said, not even an inkling of hatred behind it, Army is amazed, to say the least.

“And no one knew that until I told my parents of it, no one even suspected it. But hey, I’m the village idiot, or I guess the ‘city idiot’ in this case, so no one would’ve taken me seriously back then, but again, I don’t hate them for it.” Goggles paused, taking in a deep breath, “When I got my diagnosis, everyone was, obviously, devastated, this was before I met Rider. And the day he saved my life, was the day my world lit up. Heh, funny how a life without predictions can be so miserable but joyful at the same time right?” The blind boy turned towards Army’s direction, softly smiling at him. The soldier was immediately struck in awe, how could a boy with a generally miserable and unpredictable life continue to stay strong like that? If he was in Goggles’ position, he might have ‘perished’ a long time ago.

“How… how do you live like that? An unpredictable life?” The orange inkling asked, without realising it.

The blind boy pondered for a moment before he beamed at the soldier, “A life with predictions is no fun if you know what you’re gonna do all the time, it’s the joy of discovering things in an unpredictable life that makes it fun, just like battles! My friends always have unpredictable battle outcomes, and that’s what makes me want to play turf wars!” The soldier felt his eyes widen, his mouth forming a shape of a small ‘o’, completely stunned by his response.

“... A life without predictions can be fun huh…” He mumbled, now that he thought about it, his life has started to become mundane, every day, the same monotonous outcome of battles has become boring, and he started losing his enthusiasm for battles too. Perhaps the unpredictable element of the outcome of a battle may be the edge he needed to become better, to like battles again. A warm feeling blossomed in his chest, he felt… grateful, grateful for the chance to meet this boy.

“...Yeah, it sounds fun.” Army said, a genuine smile growing on his face, even though Goggles can’t see it, he beamed at him regardless.

“I’d also like to apologise for the rude behaviour when I first met you. You may be a fanboy, but you’re a fanboy I wouldn’t mind talking to.” Surprised at his response, Goggles expression paused for a few seconds, then he beamed even harder at him. “Apology accepted! Let’s be friends from now on!” The blind boy then sticks his hand out, an open palm gesturing for a handshake, Army leans forwards as far as he could, shaking slightly when he finally reached Goggles’ arm and shook it as firm as he could. “Yeah, let’s be friends.” A comfortable silence fell between them as they smiled at each other until it broke when the entrance door opened.

“Goggles, I brought you food.” A gruff voice said.

It took Army a peek around the blind boy’s head to realise who it was, but for Goggles, as he has already remembered the voice so clearly, he doesn’t need eyes to know it, not that he has the ability to anyway, and speedily turned his body around and greeted the yellow-green inkling.

“You’re finally back, Rider! I’ve been talking to Mr Army about lotsa good stuff!” Goggles gave Rider his signature grin with Rider smirking in response.

“...Actually, you can just call me Army from now on.” Army said, smiling softly at Goggles. This immediately prompted Goggles to turn around and grin at him while Rider looked at him incredulously.

“...Anyways, Goggles, I managed to get some shwaffles for you before they were sold out.” Rider continued, attempting to ignore the scene that just happened, luckily Goggles still being the idiot he is most of the time, quickly snapped back towards him and bounced up and down on his bed. “I want shwaffles, I want shwaffles!” The blind boy cheered. The two other inklings could only smile in fondness at his reaction, but then the blue-haired boy attempted to get off his bed, which the other two quickly leapt into action, Army attempting to grab his arm while Rider rushed over to hold the boy still, stopping him immediately.

“Goggles, I swear to cod you’ve gotta stop doing that, even if it’s just for food or just trying to greet me.” The blind boy smiled sheepishly at him.

“Sorry… I just get so excited when it’s you visiting me or you coming here with food, but thanks for helping me Rider!” The yellow-green inkling smirked at the soldier while Army frowned at this, thinking his deed has been forgotten.

Suddenly Goggles turned his head around and looked at the orange inkling, “Oh yeah, thanks for stopping me too Army!” The soldier was surprised for a moment, but quickly recovered and showed a proud smile at him and then smirked at Rider, which the latter glared back.

The rest of the day went on with Rider and Goggles mostly chatting while sharing food together with Army, which gave an occasional comment here and there. San eventually dropped by and got her fair share of food, managing to stay for a bit before her work beckoned her again. Daylight almost completely fizzled away by the time the conversation stopped, as Goggles fell asleep early, the tests he did for the treatment quickly wore him out for the day.

Rider took the scattered dolls all around Goggles and arranged them beside the blue-haired boy. Then, he gently lifted the plain blanket and covered the blind boy’s body up to his neck, Goggles stirred a bit but immediately went back to sleep, which induced a soft smile from Rider.

“Sweet dreams, Goggles.” The yellow-green inkling whispered, and stood up, walking over to the doorway when a voice called out.   
  
“Wait.” Army said and Rider turned around with annoyance, “What now? Visiting hours is almost over.”

The soldier fidgeted a bit, which was an unusual sight, then looked at him square in the eyes.

“I wanted to say thank you for sharing your story today, yours and Goggles’ story really inspired me to do something different for once, to break out of this routine, so thank you for that.” the orange inkling paused, fidgeting for a bit before continuing on, “I would like to say sorry for my past behaviour too, I promise to do better than this, as a family member of my household, I promise to make everyone proud now, including you and Goggles.” The soldier then raised his hand to his head, saluting Rider with his signature serious look.

The yellow-green inkling was stunned by Army’s sincereness in his voice, unable to say anything for a few seconds, but recovered quickly and smirked at him.

“That’s the power of Goggles’ happiness affecting you, nothing related to me.” And turned back, opening the door and paused there, turning back at the orange inkling, “I’m glad to see Goggles making a friend, so thank you for that too.” And promptly closed the door.

The soldier smiled and leaned back onto his bed, staring out at the window next to Goggles’, ‘a moonless night today; a guideless night.’ Army thought.

‘...Even if it may be a guideless night, I suppose the unexpectedness in life is what makes our nonsensical life fun.’ The soldier closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

  
  
  


A few days of pleasant chats and idiotic antics from Goggles’ end later, Army left the hospital, managing to recover enough to be able to be taken care of at home, almost missing being in the hospital for having some pleasant chats with his good friend and needing to leave that precious friend behind. After a week, he went back to turf wars. It was said his battles became much more unpredictable, players noticing the soldier not reading his manual as much as he used to. When asked about why he decided not to rely on his manual as much as he used to, the orange inkling would smile softly and reply,

“Someone taught me a life without predictions can be fun too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't really state it clearly but, the reason why Army became anxious when he was talking to Goggles was because Goggles was becoming unpredictable and Army was getting scared of being unable to know what to do in the situation.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this!


End file.
